HONOLULU – Gov. David Ige joined seven other governors for a discussion on workforce development with President Donald Trump and Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta at the White House today. The conversation focused on how states can prepare our communities for emerging requirements of jobs of the future, including partnering with states on occupation licensing reform, child care, paid family leave, and vocational skills training.

“For the first time in our country, we have more job vacancies than we have qualified people to fill them. Hawai‘i is among the states that are working to prepare the workforce for those jobs – expanding paid internships and apprenticeship programs in construction, cybersecurity, IT, healthcare,” said Gov. Ige.

The governor also met with Rear Admiral Doug Fears on hurricane disaster preparedness and resiliency. Fears serves as a deputy assistant to the president and is Homeland Security and Counterterrorism advisor on the National Security Council staff. Gov. Ige updated Admiral Fears on Hawai‘i’s recovery progress in the wake of Hurricane Lane and other natural disasters in 2018.

Earlier in the day, the governor attended a Pentagon meeting with Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel, Chief of the National Guard Bureau and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.